Good morning. This is your AM bulletin with the latest news and views from EG, along with a few of the best bits from the daily papers.
The entire RICS regulation board has quit, following the decision by its chair, Dame Janet Paraskeva, to stand down.
The Climate Change Committee says it has “markedly less” confidence that the UK will reach its 2030 net zero goals than it had a year ago. In its latest report to parliament, the government’s independent adviser on tackling climate change says: “A key opportunity to push a faster pace of progress has been missed.”
But the industry is pushing ahead regardless. Fore Partnership is reusing 20 tonnes of salvaged steel from the former House of Fraser department store on Oxford Street, W1, for its office development next to Tower Bridge, in a large scale act of “urban mining”.
Boots has said it will close 300 high street stores over the next year as it seeks to cut costs.
But suburbs, small towns and rural areas across the UK and US are booming, says a report by IWG and Arup, as office workers shun the cities. IWG said it will focus its growth on towns such as Crewe, Taunton and Preston to harness this shift.
Meanwhile, ministers should boost productivity by cutting stamp duty in half, but increasing taxes on buy-to-let property, a leading economic think tank has said.
NewRiver has sold the last retail parks out of its Napier joint venture for £62.6m.
Chronic underinvestment means that one in 10 pupils in the UK is studying in schools that urgently need to be rebuilt before the roof caves in.
And Sky has won the long-running battle over its 170,000 sq ft leaky roof. A High Court judge has ruled that insurers for the construction of its £220m west London HQ must pay for the damage.
